Persib Wants To Recreate Budi, Gonzales Partnership

After missing out on national team and Persija Jakarta star Bambang Pamungkas, Persib Bandung now has its sights on striker Budi Sudarsono.

Budi, out of a club after his loan to Sriwijaya FC ended and Persik Kediri declined to renew his contract, met with Persib officials on Wednesday at the home of Umuh Muhtar, in Sumedang, West Java.

“ We’ve been in talks since last week, and coach Jaya Hartono also wanted him to be in the team,” Umuh, the president director of Persib’s management company, PT Persib Bandung Bermartabat, told the club’s Web site.

“I was the one who approached him first as I heard that he was interested in joining Persib. It wasn’t that hard to persuade him to come to Bandung.”

Umuh did not reveal details of the transfer but said Budi would sign his contract, like all other Persib players, on Sept. 10.

However, Budi denied a deal had been reached.

“We’re still in talks. I have yet to agree on anything,” he said on Thursday. “But yes, I am interested in joining Persib. That’s all I can say right now.”

The 29-year-old struggled for much of last season. He scored four goals for Persik in the first half of the season before the club encountered financial difficulties and loaned him to Sriwijaya.

But Budi’s woes continued there and he only scored one league goal and two in the Copa Indonesia for Sriwijaya.

If Budi joins Persib, he will rejoin long-time strike partner Cristian Gonzales, who also left Persik midway through last season.

Budi’s assists helped Gonzales score 14 goals for Persik last season before both of them left. Gonzales continued his goal-scoring spree at Persib and ended the season as joint top scorer in the ISL with 28 goals alongside Persipura Jayapura’s Boaz Solossa.

Sriwijaya coach Rahmad Darmawan, meanwhile, is still on the hunt for a top class striker.

The two-time defending Copa Indonesia champion has just two strikers — Keith Kayamba Gumbs and Rahmat Rivai — and he says he is sounding out interest from Budi, Bambang and Talaohu Abdul Mushafri.

“I’m still communicating with the three of them because they have yet to decide where they will play next season,” he said on Thursday. “I need another good striker because I want to use Poci [Rahmat’s nickname] more as an attacking midfielder.”

Elsewhere in the ISL, PSM Makassar could lose another key defender. After Rahmat Latief moved to Premier Division club Persiram Raja Ampat, the club announced Djayusman Triasdi had been placed on the transfer list with a Rp 350 million ($35,350) price tag after the player expressed a wish to leave.